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Vic farmer accused of son-in-law's murder

A Victorian farmer's trial for fatally shooting his son-in-law, who he suspected was having an affair with his wife, has heard he told a neighbour he wanted to "knee cap" the younger man.

Maxwell John Pain suspected his wife, Tracy Bush, was having an affair with his son-in-law.

Pain drove to Raywood, near Bendigo, on the night of June 10, 2014 and fatally shot Dave Paris, 36, in the driveway of his house, a jury has been told.

In the witness box in Melbourne Supreme Court on Thursday, Pain's sister Helen Guerra told the court her brother called her on the night of the shooting and said "he had shot Dave and he hoped he was okay".

"(He said) I've done a lot of stupid mistakes in my life but this is the worst," Ms Guerra said.

Pain, 55, has pleaded not guilty to murder.

The court heard Pain was a licensed gun owner and kept four firearms at his property for hunting foxes and other animals.

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Crown witness Wayne Kenny told the jury his neighbour, Pain, had said he wanted to "knee cap" Mr Paris during a phone conversation they had about the alleged affair.

In his cross-examination, defence counsel John Desmond put to Mr Kenny that the knee-capping statement "was an invention".

Mr Desmond said Mr Kenny's recollection of the conversation was not included in his original police statement from the day of the shooting, but was in a second statement made on July 25 the following year.

Mr Desmond said there was a "real possibility" Pain never mentioned knee-capping and it was something he later heard, to which Mr Kenny replied it "was possible".

The court heard Pain and Ms Bush had issues in their relationship and had separated on a number of occasions over their 12-year marriage.

On the morning of the shooting, Ms Bush had texted him to say she wanted a divorce.

Witness Kim Benton told the court that Pain had come into the supermarket where she worked on the day of the shooting and seemed "angry and upset".

"Max said he was going to get Dave because he's upset Tracy for the last time," she said.